The central mission of a productivity index is to illuminate how a business can get more units of output per labor hour, per machine, or per pound of materials than its competitors.

So how can this apply to design projects and how can we see how the Design Sprint compares? Simply looking at a past project with similar outputs could be a good start. We’re not looking at achieving better results yet, although that may be a by-product of getting to market quicker (execution is the game!).

There are still challenges though. If someone wants to make a productivity calculator for the Design Sprint - go do that! I’m taking productivity right now as a mindset - see the quote at the bottom of this issue for more on that!

Consultancy is an interesting field. Bear this in mind though - while design is important, consultancy requires more in the realms of listening and communication. You could be the best designer out there, but if you can’t communicate the value and if you can’t listen to what they need, then you won’t be a consultant for long!

Big respect for Richard Banfield - his company, Fresh Tilled Soil, have been a mainstay in my feeds regarding quality product design and adapting to change. Here, Richard talks about the urgency for agencies to get out of their fancy studios so they can deliver real value to their clients. Similar approach done at Etch!

I’m in the mode of growing a design team and understanding how to enable them to grow in themselves and with their skills, so articles like this interest me massively. I’m also working out how to hack design training too!